It isn't fair....

I probably complained about this a year ago, but when May comes I always get struck by envy against people living further to the south. At 59 degrees north there is nothing but disadvantages.

First of all, a significant part of the sky is never visible from here. Antares can just be glimpsed above the southern horizon, and telescopic observation further south than Sirius is out of question. For decent resolution we have to stick to the northern hemisphere.

This strongly limits our chances to observe the planets. Jupiter has been well placed the last few years, but as soon as it passes down to Virgo, it will be blurred by the atmosphere 99% of the time, and we will have to wait for 4 - 5 years until we can expect to see any amount of detail again. The coming Mars opposition will be a flop as seen from here.

But worst of all is the summer. Now we don't get dark skies until the end of August. And if we get clear skies, there is a great probability that either the moon or the aurora will interfere.

Any advantages? Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Draco and much of Camelopardalis and Lynx are circumpolar. Who would really care for this?

Well, you could always move......

Walt in "southerly" Florida

"ny advantages? Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Draco and much of Camelopardalis and Lynx are circumpolar. Who would really care for this?"

Well, Cassiopeia is pretty nice. Bajillion nice clusters. Small comfort,though. I think *I'm* too far north, at about 43 degrees north. At least I get all of Scorpius. (Barely.)

How about a nice summer holiday? Millions of Europeans flock to the beaches around the Mediterranean and the Adriatic in the summer, but not so many go to the mountains. Here in Slovenia there's a beautiful park called Triglav National Park, where the sky is as dark as anywhere I've ever been, and hotels are very inexpensive compared to the rest of Europe. You can also try camping, but after the parks of northern Ontario, I find the campgrounds here not to my taste.

You might not want to lug a big 12" scope all the way, but if you have something nice and portable, you can get a great view of the planets and constellations such as Sagittarius from here.

Oh what the heck--why not take in the beach while you're at it?

Inge,
My hat is off to you, you must be one dedicated astronomer ;-) As Michael said, your note really helps keep me with the proper perspective on our average of 3 clear nights a month from November through March in Seattle.

I wish one of the astronomy magazines would do a "best city to view stars" article, detailing the clear nights (transparency), the highs and lows, the seeing, etc. so that those of us in the north could decide where to spend our summer and winter vacations.
John

Mosquitoes and astronomy - a very interesting combination...
I hardly thought it was possible. The idea about going somewhere is, of course, great. Florida is a bit far away but interesting. Slovenia sounds nice, and is not too far away. Russia is an option for me, but I hesitate taking my Portaball there.

A dark site with a view of Scorpius and Sagittarius and 0.6" seeing would be my dream. This would keep me busy for a week or two. The option of observing under mosquito temperatures also sounds appealing. However, I don't need the mosquitoes.

The limitations are time and economy. With four weeks of summer vacation and a passion for fly fishing (which normally is limited to June - August here) it isn't easy to make the right priorities.

I have sometimes considered travelling to the US to pick up a scope. The freight cost for a 2000$ scope is probably more than the cost of the round trip by air. When I decide to go for a 12.5-inch Portaball... Maybe...